


The Art of the Possible

by margaerystark, rebeccavis



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-24
Updated: 2013-03-24
Packaged: 2017-12-06 08:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/733839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/margaerystark/pseuds/margaerystark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebeccavis/pseuds/rebeccavis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A political marriage was what her brother called it when he brought the idea to her. It was the perfect arrangement. But then she met Robb Stark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Diamond

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as part of a Drabble a Day challenge over on Tumblr.

She found herself always playing with her ring, twisting it up and down her finger or slipping it off altogether. It was a big rock on her finger, weighing her down and feeling more of a burden than anything. Renly certainly didn’t bother with something small and tasteful, and why should he have? He wanted to show the country that they were engaged to qualm their suspicions and disbeliefs about him.

A political marriage was what her brother called it when he brought the idea to her, and she complied quickly, thinking it would be the perfect opportunity for her put her own opinion and influence forth. She never believed in love, not truly. Her parents were civil enough and seemed to hold a certain affection for one another, but they weren’t mad like the people in those terrible songs played on the radio 24/7. It was the perfect arrangement. But then she met Robb Stark.

She didn’t even know who he was at first. There had been rumors of another man entering the election, but she had only ever heard his name, and the few pictures that had surfaced of him were blurry and hardly worth noting. She didn’t believe him a viable candidate; he could hardly make a lasting impression of he hadn’t been working on a strategy for some time like Renly.

They ran into each other by coincidence one day, and perhaps she would have considered it fate if she wasn’t already engaged. She was taking a hike on one of the trails in the forest a ways from her apartment, wanting to clear her head after a long day of press conferences and interviews. She turned a bend in the pathway, and a massive, grey dog broke through the trees, running for her. She was somewhat alarmed at first, but he seemed docile enough as he stopped in front of her, promptly sitting and blocking her way. She reached out her hand and let him have a sniff before she kneeled and began to scratch behind his ears.

“Who do you belong to?” she asked the husky dog, but he merely closed his eyes in contentment as she continued to pet him. Her question did not go unanswered, however, as the heard the crashing of branches again and another figure emerged from out of the woods.

“Grey Wind?” he called out, coming to a halt as he saw her and the dog stopped on the pathway. He ran over to them, his dog finally perking his head up as he heard footsteps behind him. “I’m so sorry,” the man spoke, sounding sincere. “He doesn’t normally disobey me, and he doesn’t take to strangers easily. We were up further on the hill, and he saw you and just… took off running. I’m glad he wanted to visit rather than harm you.”

“It’s alright,” she replied, finding his rambling somewhat sweet. Still, she knew every trick in the book, and she was not about to fall for the man using his dog as a gateway to her heart, no matter how handsome he might be. It was hard not to want to go along with his advances as she looked up at him and his smiling face, however. She thought of Renly with her brother at his home, and she did not think he would mind her innocently flirting with a stranger. If he could have his fun in secret then so would she. “I like animals,” she added, the corners of her mouth turning up. “My brother owns a horse farm.”

“Does he really?” he inquired. He offered his hand to her, helping her stand, only making her smile wider. “My little sister would probably freak if she ever got to go so such a place.”

She gave a laugh, somehow falling into time with him as they continued down the path together. “I hope you treat your sister better than my brothers treated me. They were always being scolded by my father when we were younger.”

“Well, Arya - she’s not so easy to tease, but Sansa made herself an easy victim. I have two sisters,” he explained, pausing before adding, “and three brothers.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Quite the large family. I have three brothers as well, but no sisters to defend me when they were throwing me into lakes or filling my bed with spiders,” she teased, causing him to choke slightly on his laugh.

“That’s _horrifying_ ,” he remarked, shaking his head slightly. “I’m not even sure I would walk away from that unscarred. I live up north, though. No spiders or lakes to torture Sansa with.”

“Fortunately for her,” she jested, wrinkling her nose slightly. Grey Wind ran up ahead of them as they talked, and somehow they managed to make it around the entire path without a single moment of silence between them. When they reached the end of the trail, she found herself unexpectedly sad, wishing that they had more time together.

He spoke up after a moment of them hesitating on what to do next. “I have been speaking with you all this while and I haven’t even asked your name,” he noted. “You must think me terribly rude. I apologize.”

“No need. I never asked for yours either,” she said, her cheeks turning somewhat red as he met her gaze. She could scarcely believe how foolish she was feeling. “I’m Margaery.”

She watched as his face paled, and she gave him a confused expression. “You’re Margaery Tyrell,” he said as if a bomb had just been dropped on his head. “I knew you looked familiar. I just… Wow, I have been incredibly stupid. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you saying sorry again?” she asked, her brow furrowing further as she looked up at him.

“I’m Robb Stark,” he told her, his mouth twitching slightly. “I’m running against your fiancé in the upcoming election.”

Her jaw dropped, and she felt her hand automatically going for the ring finger on her left hand, only to find that it wasn’t there. She had been fiddling with it some of the time they were walking together, but she didn’t realize it was gone. “Oh,” she said simply, blinking a few times.

“He’s… he’s a very lucky man.” Robb took a few paces forward, seeming to be breaking from her. He whistled for Grey Wind. “I suppose I will see you around then, Margaery,” he added softly, and she gave a small wave and a nod as he finally walked away.

She stood there for a few moments in the quiet before sighing, turning around and going to search for her lost engagement ring among the leaves and mud.


	2. Letters

_It seems a bit old-fashioned, I suppose, to be writing to you like this._ Robb reasoned that he shouldn’t be surprised that Margaery’s words came written on the page in delicately curved handwriting. _I just thought that an e-mail would be far too impersonal, and I didn’t know if you’d want to hear me over the phone. For now, I just hope that if nothing else you will at least read this letter until the end. I’ve no idea what you’ve heard about me in the press, if anything, but if you could find it in you to put everything else aside and hear what I have to say, I promise every word on these pages comes from the heart.  
_

Robb suddenly felt a need to sit down. His legs almost seemed to give way and before he realised it he was on his sofa, still holding the piece of paper in his hand. He had most definitely not expected this to come out of the blue on a gloomy Saturday morning.

_Renly and I are divorced. We have been now for over a year. There are many things I wish I could tell you about him and the truth of our relationship but they are his secrets to share, not mine. All I can tell you is that I grew tired of living a lie. It embittered me and turned me into the kind of person I had never hoped to be. It made me hurt those I cared about the most, including you.  
_

Robb had shaken his head as he’d continued to read, even though nobody else had been there to see him. Margaery’s letter continued, talking of their very brief relationship and detailing the mistakes she had made. He almost wished she had called him after all so he could at least tell her not to keep beating herself up. They had _both_ made mistakes during that fateful election, and he had felt he’d lost a part of himself just as much as did.

_The thought that I may have caused you pain plagues me to this day, Robb. You are truly the kindest of souls, and I’ve known that since we met. I pray that you never thought my feelings for you were anything less than genuine because they were - they are. I do not know if I am worthy of being granted another chance, but I like to believe that just as anybody is capable of going down the wrong path, it is always possible to find your way back. Whether as a friend or as something more, I want to be in your life again, Robb, if you want me to be. If you never wish to hear from me again, I understand entirely, but in these past three years I’ve never been able to forget you and I guess there is a part of me that wonders whether or not you have forgotten me.  
_

Robb doesn’t remember much else about that morning now, besides that he hadn’t been able to find a pen and paper fast enough. He also remembers that he had scrawled his reply to Margaery’s letter so quickly that he’d been worried she wouldn’t be able to read it, but his worries were gone two days later when she’d appeared at his door with the broadest of smiles. _  
_

When he wakes up in the morning, he can smell coffee and there’s an empty space next to him in bed where the sheets are slightly ruffled. She’s in the kitchen, wearing nothing but her underwear and his shirt as she prepares breakfast. As she turns to face him he slides his arms around her, greeting her with a kiss, and he feels her grinning against his lips. She’s laughing soon afterwards as Grey Wind pads over and nudges her leg. Margaery arrived at his house that day and she never left. They keep both of the letters that brought them back together in a box in one of the drawers of their bedside table.

“Is this how it’s going to be every morning?” Robb wonders aloud, “Clearly I made the right decision asking you to marry me.”

“I didn’t convince you of that already last night?” Margaery teases, leaning in to kiss him again as he chuckles and nods emphatically. “I loved waking up today engaged to you,” she admits, “And my dad called first thing to ask how last night went. It was sweet of you to ask him first but you didn’t have to, you know. I would have said yes regardless.”

“Sorry,” Robb says, smiling as his gaze meets hers, “I guess I’m a little old fashioned that way."


End file.
